Born: 25 June 1855, Slovakia
Died: 20 August 1920
Country most active: International
Also known as: NA
From Famous Women: An Outline of Feminine Achievement Through the Ages With Life Stories of Five Hundred Noted Women. Written by Joseph Adelman, published 1926 by Ellis M Lonow Company:
Etelka Gerster, a Hungarian Singer, who studied with Mme. Marchesi, and made her début at Venice as Gilda, with great success in January 1876. The following year she married her director Pietro Gardini, and after a tour of Europe, visited the United States, singing at the Academy of Music, New York, in 1878, 1883 and 1887. Three years later when she re-appeared in London, her vocal powers had became impaired, and she retired from public life.
Mme. Gerster was one of the favorite prima donnas at the Old Academy of Music – she had a voice of exquisite beauty, and was an artist of extraordinary vocal and dramatic genius.